Anton Caputo: Ah, The Great Outdoors

More people in Texas enjoyed the great outdoors in 2006 than in any other state except California, according to a newly released survey from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. Last year, more than 5.4 million people either went fishing, hunting or wildlife watching in the Lone Star Sate, lagging behind only California’s 6.7 million. Florida was third with 4.6 million.

The survey makes the residents of the sunny super states look pretty gung ho about the outdoors, and, indeed, it seems that millions of them are.

Interestingly though, the portion of population in each of the states that enjoys the outdoors runs about a third for Texas and Florida and about a quarter for California. When looking at it that way, these three states don’t hold a candle to some with much harsher weather (although anyone hiking in Texas in August may argue the last point).

Montana and Maine top the list when looking at percentage of population that enjoys the outdoors, with 68 percent each. Minnesota and Vermont come in third and fourth and round out the list of states to top the 60 percent mark.

If you go for such statistics, check out the report. It breaks down the issue in every conceivable way, including economic impact.